Acts (Topoi C-III)

The exploratory focus of Research Group C-III was on acts and, more precisely on rituals. The fundamental research question was how sacred landscapes and spaces are distinguished through ritual action and ritual practices, especially through processions, from the past to the present. Practices and actions could be occasioned by a particular space or be integrated into a space and thereby contribute to the formation, modification, or reproduction of space. The group seeked to examine the interdependence of space and ritual acts. In order to contribute to ritual theory, the group aimed to identify sacred places, reconstruct processions, for instance to sanctuaries, explore the social and economic organization of processions, examine the relationship between ritual and mundane practices, and finally to reconstruct larger sacred landscapes.